What was discussed in the Ministry of Defense and why is Suren Papikyan avoiding a specific answer?

on March 7 “Suren Papikyan’s religio-political constraints. “uncomfortable” questions about the “transformation” of the spiritual service of the Armed Forces with the text in the article We wrote that our written request addressed to the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia on February 6 (the basis for which served as the basis for the request of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Suren Papikyan on January 30 the command) remained unanswered a month later.

It should be noted that the RA Law “On Freedom of Information” clearly states stated that: “if it is necessary to perform additional work to provide the information specified in the written request, then this information is given to the applicant after receiving the application; within 30 days”.

The Ministry of Defense asked us for more time to respond to the inquiry.

And the written request includes the following questions:

– Was a meeting with the participation of gunners called in the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, when did it take place, who were present from the spiritual service of the Armed Forces, and who were from the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff, why was it called, what was discussed? Or, if such a meeting was called, was the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia present at it? Suren Papikyan, Chief of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces Edward Asryan, RA Deputy Minister of Defense Arman Sargsyan, Head of the Department of Morale and Psychological Support of the Armed Forces General Staff Seryozha Stepanyan, general Artak Budaghyan, and was there an attempt to check the attitude of the colonists regarding Nikol Pashinyan’s religio-political movement to “reform” the Church?

– During the tenure of RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan and before that, did the dual subordination of gunners in the army cause problems and what exactly was the problem? And from now on, can we say that the code of the Armed Forces will be extended to the regimental soldiers?

– And since the colonels are offered military positions and officer ranks, will they also be certified, according to what standards?

– Is it already clear what the spiritual service of the soldiers will mean from now on, will their service duties undergo changes compared to before, and what changes?

3 days after the publication of our article, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia decides to send a response letter in violation of the deadline established by law, which states:

“In response to your request of February 6, 2026 addressed to the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, we inform you that until February 1 of this year, various service consultations were held with the participation of the regimental officers.

RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan addressed your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th questions in a briefing with journalists at the National Assembly on February 6.

In other words, Suren Papikyan did not deny the information in our survey about the meetings convened in the Ministry of Defense and its content.

As for the other questions, we mentioned in the above-mentioned article that we sent a written request because there were still misreadings and doubts regarding the content of the meeting in the Ministry of Defense, the reasons for excluding dual subordination in the army, and the duties, salary, and certification-de-certification of the gunners in the new status.

In other words, no clear answers were given during the briefing, moreover, the questions that are present in our written survey were not asked there.

For example, during Suren Papikyan’s term of office and before that, did the dual subordination of colonels in the army cause problems and what exactly was the problem, and from now on, can we say that the code of the Armed Forces will be extended to colonels, what legislative, rulebook, statutory changes does the change in the nature of spiritual service in the army imply? The briefing also did not address whether the certification process would be extended to enlisted gunners, and what standards would be applied.

And in its response letter sent by the RA Ministry of Defense in violation of the deadline, it tried to save the fact that it does not have de jure and de facto answers to our questions by referring to Suren Papikyan’s briefing on February 6. It’s a failed attempt, to say the least.

And what about the briefing with journalists at the National Assembly? to say The Minister of Defense.

“The order of the Minister of Defense has been changed, and the nature of the service has changed. Speculations that spiritual service in the army has been stopped are not true. Spiritual service can be continued in the army, they just have to obey the morale-psychological department of the Armed ForcesSuren Papikyan noted, adding that there can be no dual subordination in the army.

And we tried to find out from which moment or period the dual subordination in the army caused problems, and what exactly, after all, only Suren Papikyan has been in this position since November 15, 2021.

Journalists were also interested in the fact that disorganized clerics were offered positions, that is, to go and work as a regiment with a salary of 700,000 drams, to which Suren Papikyan said in response.

“I can’t say the amount of salary now, but the Minister’s order that we have published reveals that yes, we can sign a contract with the ministers who received spiritual education of the AAP in RA, so that they serve and fulfill their mission. I can’t talk about salary now. You say the amount of salary is high, but it will be sufficient salary, which will be different from what they received before.”

Are there answers to our questions here? Maybe the RA Ministry of Defense will once again look at Minister Papikyan’s briefing…

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